Stop rushing into Christmas

The fall season is special and unique because you get to celebrate a different holiday almost every month. Each holiday has their own traditions and activities which are fun to partake in. But as holidays are becoming more commercialized, it seems as soon as the last piece of candy is handed out on Halloween, everyone rushes to start celebrating Christmas – which is 55 days away.

Stop rushing into Christmas.

If you don’t want to celebrate Thanksgiving because you have some hatred against the pilgrim settlers and Christopher Columbus, that is perfectly reasonable. But it doesn’t give you any right to drop everything the day after Halloween and start putting up the Christmas tree.

The people that rush straight into Christmas before snow is even on the ground need to back up. We all just finished picking up candy wrappers in our front yard, no one should even be planning for December yet.

Christmas is important to some religions, obviously, but nowhere in any holy writings does it explicitly say to start celebrating Christmas on November 1st. Take a minute to breathe before we rush into elves, peppermint bark and wrapping paper galore.

Christmas is overwhelming enough without shoving it down everyone’s throats a month and a half earlier. There are so many movies to watch, presents to buy and decorations to hang up that it can stress out even the sanest people. There’s a reason why moms go into overdrive during the month of December, Christmas isn’t a walk in the park.

Holidays are supposed to be fun and lighthearted. Christmas season turns people into the exact opposite. Christmas makes people materialistic and that’s exemplified by all of the parents that were fighting in Target last year over Hatchimals. A holiday where people are supposed to be celebrating the birth of their lord and savior and instead they are fighting with people in department stores over a pair of shoes.

Thanksgiving is an overlooked holiday mostly because no one appreciates the food we get to eat. Name another holiday where you can eat in a gluttonous fashion without being judged by all of your immediate family. The month of November is the perfect time to take some time for yourself and focus on the last few months of the year.

Thanksgiving season is for food, family and relaxing from all the stress that Halloween just caused you. November gives you enough time to regroup after going all out during October in preparation for Halloween, right before you have to turn around and celebrate 25 days of Christmas.

Give Thanksgiving the respect it deserves, give November the respect it deserves and take a moment to breathe before you watch Elf 37 times this winter.

Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Jacey Gonzalez is a student at the University of Nevada and studies journalism. She can be reached at jaceygonzalez@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.